The two teams matched up last week in the FA Cup and this weekend sees them battle it out again, in the Conti Cup final.
Both managers previewed their preparation and commented on the opportunity to the media.
The Gunners have had a difficult time adding to their club's trophy cabinet, since winning their last trophy in 2019.
Last season, they were beaten to the title by Chelsea by a single point and with a lack of opportunities taken in front of goal in last weekend's London derby, they were also knocked out of the FA Cup.
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Opportunity for Arsenal
Jonas Eiedevall is choosing not to dwell on the past and sees this weekend as an opportunity for success.
"Of course, we want to win things. What we can control is how we do things, how we're playing, how we're behaving, and what our mindset is.”
“That's where we need to get 100% of our focus on. If we're doing that well enough, I have so much belief that we can win this trophy."
Despite failing to beat Chelsea in five attempts since the beginning of the season, the manager is certain that belief and optimism will assist them this weekend, and he believes that fan support will also propel them to victory.
"…You can learn and develop. Just because it happened one way yesterday, it can be different tomorrow if you're working towards making it different - so that's what we're aiming for."
"Our supporters have been phenomenal. They're loud. They're passionate. They give everything for the team.”
"Our team wants to do everything in our power to give that back to the supporters”.
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Rivalries aside?
Eidevall also acknowledged the success of rivals Chelsea but knows the rooted rival remains between the two London clubs. The manager sees this game as any other football match.
"This game isn’t about any revenge from me or any other side at Arsenal. It’s about what we want to try and create together and the memories we want to create, so that's all we will focus on.
“Chelsea have obviously been doing that very very well here over the last couple of seasons and it’s very impressive winning that much, but we need to focus on what we can do and not show them too much respect."
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Hayes on keeping a level head
Chelsea can continue their winning run and have the potential to land the quadruple this year under Emma Hayes.
However, the manager is keeping level-headed ahead of their clash with Arsenal and knows that there will be a different atmosphere after they beat The Gunners 2-0 last weekend.
"I don’t think about how many we can win. Other people do, which is fair enough, but I just think about getting through the training week and preparing the players as best as possible. It’s felt a lot easier this week to do that because we had everybody here”
The Blues were lucky to have their players return from the international break without injuries, although several players arrived later than normal. Hayes reported that no players were injured and expressed gratitude for the extra time to prepare.
“We’ve been able to get everybody fresh and recovered. I thought we trained smart today, I thought it was a solid session today from the group."
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The captains view
The mindset that Hayes carries is clear that it has been absorbed by the players. Blues captain Magdalena Eriksson emphasises their intense drive to win, but understands that things will be different this time out.
“We know it is going to be a new game with new challenges – we just have to be ready and switched because we lost the final last year and we don’t want to repeat that.
“We’ve had two really tough games against them. Even Sunday’s game was tough and they had some chances as well, so they are still a really strong team.”
